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The First Ghosts: Most Ancient of Legacies Paperback – February 21, 2023

by Irving Finkel (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 186 ratings
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'It's enthralling stuff, mixing the scholarly with the accessible and placing storytelling right at the heart of the human experience.' - History Revealed

'A fascinating journey' - Yorkshire Post

'Marvellous...Finkel is an expert in Mesopotamian cultures at the British Museum, and is one of the most clever, and nicest, of people it has ever been my pleasure to encounter...A fascinating journey' - The Scotsman

There are few things more in common across cultures than the belief in ghosts. Ghosts inhabit something of the very essence of what it is to be human. Whether we personally 'believe' or not, we are all aware of ghosts and the rich mythologies and rituals surrounding them. They have inspired, fascinated and frightened us for centuries - yet most of us are only familiar with the vengeful apparitions of Shakespeare, or the ghastly spectres haunting the pages of 19th century gothic literature. But their origins are much, much older...

The First Ghosts: Most Ancient of Legacies takes us back to the very beginning. A world-renowned authority on cuneiform, the form of writing on clay tablets which dates back to 3400BC, Irving Finkel has embarked upon an ancient ghost hunt, scouring these tablets to unlock the secrets of the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians to breathe new life into the first ghost stories ever written. In The First Ghosts, he uncovers an extraordinarily rich seam of ancient spirit wisdom which has remained hidden for nearly 4000 years, covering practical details of how to live with ghosts, how to get rid of them and bring them back, and how to avoid becoming one, as well as exploring more philosophical questions: what are ghosts, why does the idea of them remain so powerful despite the lack of concrete evidence, and what do they tell us about being human?

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  1. Print length
    368 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Hodder
  4. Publication date
    February 21, 2023
  5. Dimensions
    5 x 0.9 x 7.75 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    152930329X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1529303292
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr Irving Finkel is Senior Assistant Keeper of Ancient Mesopotamian script, languages and cultures in the Middle East Department of the British Museum. He is the curator in charge of the world's largest collection of cuneiform clay tablets, comprising more than 130,000 pieces. His work involves reading and translating all sorts of inscriptions, sometimes working on ancient archives to identify manuscripts that belong together, or even join to one another. With publications, lecturing and broadcasting, Dr Finkel has brought these inscriptions and their writers to a modern audience. He is the author of The Ark Before Noah.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hodder; Reprint edition (February 21, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 152930329X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1529303292
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.9 x 7.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 186 ratings

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Irving Finkel

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
186 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Jvlenon
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2023
Verified Purchase
A very interesting book. I also recommend The Ark Before Noah, which he also wrote.
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K. Benson
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2023
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Fascinating book. It's interesting how many ancient beliefs about ghosts survive almost unchanged to this day. Recommended if you like ghosts, ancient history, folklore or mythology.
One person found this helpful
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Mishkabob
4.0 out of 5 stars Just Fine
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2021
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Im glad they had this book. I couldn't get The First Ghosts in person at Barnes and Nobles.
One person found this helpful
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S. Coburn
5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read, fascinating
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2023
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Dr. Finkel has a bit of humor interposed with the research he devotedly presents. The information opens a most interesting facet of early history in an understandable manner. My first copy was stolen, if that can make it any more desirable.
2 people found this helpful
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Andrea M Lazar
5.0 out of 5 stars delightful and educational
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2023
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Not only did I learn really cool things, but i kinda feel like this book can function as a Mesopotamia grimoire of sorts. I enjoyed the author’s voice as storyteller as well. Highly recommended
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M. Podolec
5.0 out of 5 stars People haven’t changed
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2022
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I loved this conversational deep dive into the lives and belief systems of ancient Sumerians. Easy to read and super fun, with many excellent translations of original texts.
7 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book About Ancient Ghosts
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2024
This book was written by a man who has been working on the cuniform writing of ancient Irag and Iran since he was a teenager. He helps the reader to get an idea of what people in ancient Babylon or Ur would believe about ghosts.

It's an academic, non-fiction book so it's not a story book. It's teaching you about the people who live between the two rivers, the Tigress and the Euphrates. It can be a little dry if you're not used to academic literature but it's not difficult to read. I highly recommend this book.
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Monica
5.0 out of 5 stars Buy It
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2023
An entertaining read, the author is an absolute hoot.
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Top reviews from other countries

Kevin Davis
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 17, 2021
Verified Purchase
Brilliant window into an ancient world where their then rational deductions led to some bonkers uses for dormouse tendons. Perhaps in parts a tough read for us vegetarians, but as with Irving Finkel's book on The Ark, you will be thrilled with the complexity of the societies discussed, here through the portal of ghostly rattling.
9 people found this helpful
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Adrian T. Bell
5.0 out of 5 stars Science meets mythology
Reviewed in Australia on February 11, 2023
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We all love ghosts - or would like to. This amazing book is written by a maths / science academic. Based on excellent research you can share mythology, religion, archaeology, anthropology and historical fact. For people with a brain! :) great for you or your loved one.
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Danielle Zykowska
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow amazing book!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2022
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Fantastic amazing book!
He shines a new light on a very interesting subject.
One person found this helpful
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Steve B
4.0 out of 5 stars AS OLD AS HUMANITY
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 13, 2024
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A dry subject perhaps, but one as old as humanity Dr Finkel adds human interest and a touch of humour to the scholarship. While he effectively highlights the essential irrationality of ghost-deniers, I have to say that my impression is that the ancient Mesopotamians regarded ghosts primarily as a cause of illness (exorcists and physicians seemed to have a dual function in their societies).
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Mac McAleer
4.0 out of 5 stars What they believed about Ghosts in Ancient Mesopotamia
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 3, 2021
Verified Purchase
In this book Irving Finkel of the British Museum (1) uses his knowledge of the beliefs of Ancient Mesopotamia to discuss how ghosts were very much a part of everyday life and taken very seriously. This attitude is a long way from our pantomime ghosts carrying their heads under their arms and Victorian ghost stories. Note that this is a book about Mesopotamian beliefs and cuneiform clay tablets and not a book about belief in ghosts through history. It is also quite detailed, often relying on a series of specific examples and quotations from clay tablets. A shorter text with more editing might be easier to read.

When someone died they were often buried under the family home. Their spirit left the body to become a shadow in the Netherworld. Usually, it was preferable to keep these ghosts in the Netherworld, but some could not or did not go there, and they could be bothersome to the living. Others could be summoned temporarily by expert necromancers. Two chapters are devoted to “Ghost Magic”, including discussions about anti-ghost amulets, ghost spells and the creation of figurines for the anti-ghost rituals.

THE BOOK begins with the Author’s Note, which acts as an introduction, followed by 15 chapters covering 288 pages, a substantial sections of Endnotes, a Bibliography and an Index (2).

THE ILLUSTRATIONS: There are a few black and white matt illustrations of various sizes embedded in the text and a section of 8 pages containing 18 photographs, mostly of clay tablets from the British Museum. One of the photographs is “The Queen of the Night”, an Old Babylonian terracotta probably depicting the goddess Inanna. This picture is used as the basis of the photomontage on the book’s front cover. There are no maps. At minimum, I would have liked a map of Mesopotamia, perhaps marked with the major locations mentioned in the text and the areas occupied over time by the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians.

_________________________________________
(1) Irving Finkel is the Senior Assistant Keeper of Ancient Mesopotamian script, languages and cultures in the Middle East Department of the British Museum. He is curator of the world’s largest collection of cuneiform clay tablets. He mentions at the start of the book that “… my doctoral thesis on Babylonian exorcistic magic contained cuneiform spells for driving ghosts away, the first time that Mesopotamian ghosts in particular reared their heads over the parapets, crooking a bony finger.” (Author’s Note, page XI)

(2) The book’s contents are:
Author’s Note (4 pages)
.1. Ghosts at the Beginning
.2. Ancient Mesopotamia: Home to the First Ghosts
.3. The Death and Burial of Kings
.4. Everyday Houses, Burials and Ghosts
.5. Living With Ghosts
.6. Ghost Magic 1: Words and Deeds
.7. Ghost Magic 2: Pictures and Conversations
.8. The Descents of Inanna and Ishtar and Other Netherworld Stories
.9. Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld
.10. Part 1: An Assyrian Prince in the Netherworld
.11. Part 2: Who was the Prince?
.12. The Delicate Art of Necromancy
.13. A Brief Enquiry as to What the Inhabitants of Mesopotamia Believed About Their Netherworld and the Ultimate Fate of Those Who Languished in Same
.14. Afterword
.15. User’s Guide: Telling Your Ghost From Your Demon
Endnotes (32 pages)
Bibliography (12 pages)
Acknowledgements (1 page); Picture Acknowledgements (3 pages)
Index (6 pages)
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